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HPU Named ‘Tree Campus USA’ for Fourth Year in a Row

HIGH POINT, N.C., March 5, 2013 – Thanks to continued efforts to keep the campus green with trees, High Point University has been designated as a “Tree Campus USA” for the fourth consecutive year by the Arbor Day Foundation. HPU is one of only six campuses in the state honored with this designation. The award will be given in a presentation at 4 p.m. on April 18 during an Arbor Day celebration on campus.

Tree Campus USA is a national program created in 2008 to honor colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. Toyota helped launch the program and continues its generous financial support this year.

HPU achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus USA’s five standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures toward trees, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning projects.

“Students are eager to volunteer in their communities and become better stewards of the environment,” says John Rosenow, founder and chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Participating in Tree Campus USA sets a fine example for other colleges and universities, while helping to create a healthier planet for all of us.”

HPU First Lady Mariana Qubein has been instrumental helping the campus to maintain its Tree Campus USA status by spearheading environmental stewardship efforts, as well as volunteering countless hours on campus while passionately advocating for a sustainable university.

Jon Roethling, HPU’s curator, has also taken many measures throughout the past few years to help earn the designation. A variety of additional trees were planted on campus last year thanks to a generous donation; members of the Student Arboretum Team completed an inventory of the number and types of trees on campus; and the university installed the Mariana H. Qubein Arboretum & Botanical Gardens Bio Tracking and Mapping System – a GPS mapping system that can track precise biological information about every living campus specimen.

The campus has also taken many measures throughout the past few years to help earn the designation. A variety of additional trees were planted on campus last year thanks to a generous donation; members of the Student Arboretum Team completed an inventory of the number and types of trees on campus; and the university installed the Mariana H. Qubein Arboretum & Botanical Gardens Bio Tracking and Mapping System – a GPS mapping system that can track precise biological information about every living campus specimen.

For more information on the trees and gardens on campus, visit www.highpoint.edu/arboretum.

The Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota have helped campuses throughout the country plant hundreds of thousands of trees, and Tree Campus USA colleges and universities invested $23 million in campus forest management last year. More information about the program is available at arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA.